TEAM

Lesson Plan Template

Teacher: Colby Swift
Class: Sophomore Honors English
Course Unit: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Lesson Title: Social Capital in Of Mice and Men and Our Lives
LESSON OVERVIEW

Summary of the task, challenge, investigation, career-related scenario, problem, or

community link.

First, students read about and discuss the idea of social capital and how they see it working in their own lives,
particularly in the context of school. Then, in groups, students discuss the first half of Of Mice and Men
through a social capital lens and together answer the following questions: Which characters in Steinbecks
novel have the mosvot power (or social capital)? The least power? Finally, students create a chart that visually
illustrates each character in novel in relation to how much power (s)he has over other characters, providing
textual evidence to support their reasoning.

STANDARDS

Identify what you want to teach. Reference State, Common Core, ACT College
Readiness Standards and/or State Competencies.

SL. 9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussionson grades 9-10 topics,
texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

RL. 9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of
the text.

RL. 9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over
the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot of develop the theme.

OBJECTIVE

Clear, Specific, and Measurable NOT ACTIVITIES

Student-Friendly

The student will discuss the theme of social capital (power vs. powerlessness) and how it relates to Clinton
High School and Steinbecks Of Mice and Men.

The student will create a chart that visually illustrates which characters have the most and least social capital in
Of Mice and Men, citing textual evidence to support his or her claims.

ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION

Students show evidence of proficiency through a variety of assessments.

Aligned with the Lesson Objective
Formative/Summative
Performance-Based/Rubric
Formal/Informal

Informal / Formative: The freewrite at the beginning of the lesson will serve as a formative assessment that
measures students initial thoughts and observations of how social capital plays out in their school and lives.
Students will be able to draw upon this assessment when further discussing social capital in their groups later
in the lesson.

Informal / Formative: Student groups Social Capital at CHS chart will serve as an informal assessment with
which I can see how deeply students have thought about the idea of social capital as it applies to their school.
If students charts are fairly empty as I circulate throughout the room, I can begin discussions with them to
encourage their thinking.

Formal / Formative: Student groups Of Mice and Men Power Spectrum Charts will serve as a formal,
alternative assessment that will allow me to measure students understanding of the theme of social capital
and how it applies to the novel. Also, these charts will allow me to assess students understanding of how to
effectively cite textual evidence to support claims.

MATERIALS

Aligned with the Lesson Objective

Rigorous & Relevant

Copies of What is a Social Commentary? handout

Notebook paper
Chalkboard
Document camera (for the teacher)
Antigone Power Spectrum model PowerPoint
Poster boards
Markers
Cut outs of character portraits
Copies of Of Mice and Men

ACTIVATING STRATEGY

Motivator/Hook
An Essential Question encourages students to put forth more effort when faced with
a complex, open-ended, challenging, meaningful and authentic questions.

Essential Question: Are there certain students at Clinton High School who have more power and/or influence
than other students? Which students have power and influence at Clinton? Which students dont have power
and influence? What does power and influence look like at Clinton High?

(5 minutes) As students return to the classroom from lunch, I will ask them to retrieve a piece of notebook
paper and a pencil. I will direct them to the objectives written on the chalkboard and remind them that today
we are going to be learning about and discussing the term social capital and how it applies to Steinbecks
novel. At this point, I will reveal the essential question that is written on the board and allow the students five
minutes to complete a freewrite in which they answer the question.

INSTRUCTION

Step-by-Step Procedures-Sequence
Discover/Explain Direct Instruction
Modeling Expectations I Do
Questioning/Encourages Higher Order Thinking
Grouping Strategies
Differentiated Instructional Strategies to Provide Intervention & Extension

(5 minutes) After the students complete the freewrite, I will briefly reread the essential question aloud. I will
then reframe the essential question by explaining that when someone has power/influence over his or her
peers, they can be said to have social capital. I will then distribute a copy of the What is a Social
Commentary? handout to each student.

(5 minutes) Together, we will read the handout aloud, pausing frequently to discuss any terms or ideas that
students are confused about. As we read, I will encourage the students to mark their confusions on the
handout and to underline or highlight any words or sentences in the handout that help support their answers
to the freewrite.

(10 minutes) After reading the What is a Social Commentary? handout aloud, I will divide the class into
groups of three. I have decided that, since this lesson is about social capital and since I am aware that there
are certain cliques in my classroom, it would be fitting to handpick which students work together myself. In
this way, students may be encouraged to open a dialogue with students they wouldnt normally speak with
and who may possesses a different social capital than themselves.

In their groups, the students will make a three-column chart on a sheet of notebook paper; on this chart, the
students should label the first column as Have influence/power, the second column as Have less
influence/power, and the third column as How to gain influence/power. I will instruct the students to talk
with their partners to determine which types of students at Clinton High School fit into which categories.
Finally, they should write in the third column the ways students at CHS can gain influence and power over their
peers. To model my expectations for this activity (I Do), I will have my own copy of the chart made up on a
sheet of paper with the terms jock/athlete and cheerleader written under the Have influence/power
column, and I will display this chart using the document camera.

GUIDED & INDEPENDENT PRACTICE

We Do-You Do
Encourage Higher Order Thinking & Problem Solving
Relevance
Differentiated Strategies for Practice to Provide Intervention & Extension

(10 minutes) Students will work with their partners to fill out the social capital chart. During this time, I will
walk around the room and monitor the progress each group is making with their chart. If I see that a certain
group still has much of their chart blank, I will try to guide them to further their thinking by asking higher-order
thinking questions like, What do you think power and influence look like in this school? Do you know anyone
who seems to have some sort of power or influence over other students? What kind of person is that? How
do you think they got this power?

(10 minutes) (We Do) After students have completed their charts, I will again display my copy of the chart
using the document camera and begin asking the groups to tell me about some of their discussions and
findings. I will record these answers on my own chart for all of the class to see. After we have discussed our
answers for a few minutes, I will ask the class if any students would like to politely disagree with any of the
answers we have recorded (for example, if one group listed teachers pet as being under the Have no
influence/power column, one student may wish to point out that that type of student could have more
influence and power with a teacher than another student might).

(5 minutes) While students are still in their groups, I will explain that now we have an understanding of what
social capital means and what it looks like in our school, we will now determine what it looks like in Of Mice
and Men. Just like at Clinton High School, there are many different types of characters interacting with each
other in the novel, and it is going to be our job to figure out which characters have the most power over the
others, and which characters have the least amount of power. To do this, we are going to arrange each
character in the novel on a spectrum, with the most powerful characters on one end of the spectrum and the
least powerful characters on the opposite end. To model what this will look like, I will have prepared a
PowerPoint slide that includes a spectrum on which various characters from Sophocles play Antigone will be
arranged. Since the students have already read and discussed Antigone and the characters in the play, they
will better understand how the power spectrum they are going to create for Of Mice and Men will work. I will
briefly discussed the model spectrum, and why I chose to list Antigone as having the most power and why I
said the Messenger in the play had the least power. I will also use the model spectrum to briefly review how to
correctly cite textual evidence using the MLA format.

(20 minutes) I will pass out the materials needed to each student group and give them the rest of the time to
work on their power spectrums. I will circulate about the room and question students why they may have
placed a certain character above another on the spectrum; in this way, I will give them some practice
verbalizing the reasoning behind their thinking, which they will have to do during the next class period in front
of their classmates. As I circulate, I will also offer help and guidance to students as they find and cite textual
evidence to support why they placed certain characters where they did on the spectrum.

Differentiated Instruction: Because this is a project-based activity that includes the creation of visual and
artistic representations of ideas in the novel, I believe all students in the class will have the opportunity to
provide their own thinking and skills to the task and succeed. For instance, my students who are developing
writers may be more willing and able to present their thoughts about the presence of social capital in Of Mice
and Men through the creation of a visual and a subsequent verbal presentation rather than through a one or
two page essay. However, though they will not be writing a full essay, they will still receive practice in citing
textual evidence, a skill that will help them write essays in future lessons.

CLOSURE

Reflection/Wrap-Up
Summarizing, Reminding, Reflecting, Restating, Connecting

(5 minutes) To close, I will ask that students return to their original seats. I will then explain to the students
that during the next days class period, they will finish creating their spectrums and will present them in front
of the class.
Finally, I will hand each student an index card and, as an exit slip, ask them to define the phrase social capital
and to briefly explain what it means. Students will hand me their exit slips as they leave the classroom
following the bell.

CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS

The idea of social capital is one that can easily be applied to the social sciences. After students interpret Of
Mice and Men, a novel that takes place in Depression-era America, and discuss the types of social capital that
various groups of people (e.g., ranch owners, migrant farm workers, women, African-Americans) had during
this time, they may be better prepared to study and interpret the events that took place during this period of
American history in their Social Studies classes.

NOTES:

What is a Social Commentary?
A social commentary expresses and opinion on the nature of a given society. Generally, these
commentaries reveal a desire to implement a change which promotes justice or well-being for
the greater community. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores a number of themes [a
main idea or unifying subject that can be found throughout your reading] which help develop
our understanding of a larger social commentary. As you read, be careful to pay attention to
points in the story where Steinbeck makes reference to: money, gender, race, loneliness, and the
American Dream.

________________________________________________________________________

Social Capital in School

Authors very often write social commentaries based upon their own life experiences. Your
immediate community is comprised of your home, your neighborhood, and your school. Inside
the school, there is a mini-culture that is student created. Very often, your teachers and other
adults find that they are on the outside of this mini-culture. As students, you experience social
conditions which we are not privy to. What are some of the social norms of your student
culture? That is, how is student culture organized? What groups of students have the most
influence in your school? Which students seem to have less influence in your school? What
does a person have to do to gain a position of influence in your school? Take a few minutes to
make three lists. Under each category, list as many people that you can fit. For example, under
Have Influence, you might list honors students or extremely tall people. For Have Less
Influence, youd want to list people that dont seem to have as much cultural capital (social
influence). Under the last column, list ways that you see other students, including yourself,
gain social capital. How do kids gain influence or power over other kids?